Geoffrey Mason, who had a five-decade career in sports television and was best known as the coordinating producer for ABC’s coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games hostage crisis, has died. He was 85.
ESPN said Mr. Mason died Sunday in Naples, Fla. He died of natural causes, according to his family.
“Geoff was a giant visionary in television, never seeking credit. He preferred leading and mentoring teams, connecting people to projects, and was devoted to people and recovery of all sorts. He was a great teacher and mentor to everyone who came in his orbit,” former ESPN President Steve Bornstein said.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Mason worked on eight Olympics. As a young producer on Sept. 5, 1972, he was in the control room in Munich, Germany, when the Palestinian militant group Black September stormed the Olympic village and took Israeli Olympic team members hostage.
ABC provided continuous coverage for 22 hours, culminating in a failed rescue attempt in which six Israeli coaches and five athletes died. Jim McKay broke the news with, “They’re all gone.”
Mr. Mason was a consultant on the script and every aspect of production for the 2024 feature film September 5, which recreates what it was like in the ABC control room that day. The international broadcast center in Munich was 100 yards away from where the hostage crisis was taking place in the Olympic village.
The movie recreates the moment when West German police stormed the control room and pointed guns at Mr. Mason’s face. This happened because one of ABC’s cameras was showing a tactical squad taking position on the roof above the hostages. Mr. Mason ended up cutting off the camera’s feed.
It is estimated that nearly 900 million people worldwide at some point viewed ABC’s coverage.
“Geoff told me that day there was no chance to think. Their singular goal was to stay on the air to keep the story going, to do their job as sports broadcasters,” said John Magaro, who played Mr. Mason, in 2025. “Once the clock starts ticking, there’s no chance to think.”
Mr. Mason’s career was largely spent with ABC and ESPN, but he also worked for NBC, Fox, NFL Network, and other television entities. He began as a production associate at ABC Sports in 1967, working on Wide World of Sports and the 1968 Winter and Summer Olympics. Over the years, he earned 24 Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010.
He also worked on Super Bowl 25, Monday Night Football, the World Series, horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Indianapolis 500, and the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cup tournaments.
He is also known for his coverage of the 1986-87 America’s Cup from Fremantle, Australia.
“Geoff Mason was a friend and a colleague who had a storied career, touching just about every corner of the sports television industry,” said Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and ESPN. “He had a passion for the business, which was evidenced in his prodigious work ethic and the constant love and enthusiasm he exhibited on everything he worked on.”
Mr. Mason was selected by Jim Valvano as a founding board member of the V Foundation for Cancer Research and was a longtime board member of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. He delivered a eulogy during Betty Ford’s funeral in 2011.
“Geoffrey was a force of nature in our industry for six decades, but more important is all the help he gave to so many people through his association with the Betty Ford Center. He changed so many lives personally and professionally,” said former CBS Sports chairperson Sean McManus, who worked with Mr. Mason at both ABC and NBC.
Mr. Mason was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and graduated from Duke University with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology in 1963. Survivors include wife Chris, son Geoff Jr., and brother David.
